/*
 * Copyright 2011 The Rusted Roof, LLC.
 *
 *    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 *    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 *    You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 *    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 *    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 *    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 *    limitations under the License.
 */

package org.proteusframework.api.model;

/**
 * Base interface for all Proteus qualified named objects. A qualified name consists of a mandatory namespace,
 * a mandatory ID that must be unique with the given namespace, and an optional reference ID typically only populated
 * when loading a qualified named object from an XML definition.
 *
 * @author Tacoma Four
 */
public interface IQualifiedName
{
    /**
     * Fully qualified namespace, typically reverse-domain notation.
     *
     * @return namespace
     */
    String getNamespace();

    /**
     * Unique ID within the specified namespace.
     *
     * @return unique ID
     */
    String getId();

    /**
     * Optional reference ID, typically used only when loading a qualified named object from an XML definition. May be
     * null.
     *
     * @return reference ID, or null if none specified
     */
    String getRefId();
}
